1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to pick truck racks and, more particularly, pickup truck racks suitable for use inside canopies mounted on a pickup truck bed.
2. Prior Art
It is well known to have truck racks for pickup trucks. Truck racks generally provide a frame elevated above the truck bed on which various cargos can be carried. Typically, such racks are positioned over the cab rear window to the truck driver still has full view through his rear window. It is also well known to have canopies that mount over a pickup truck bed on bed sides. (For purposes herein, a truck xe2x80x9ccanopyxe2x80x9d is construed in the normal vernacular as that which is mounted as an enclosure over a truck bed, including a roof and sides around a support structure together comprising the whole of a truck canopy.) The canopy adds a measure of security for cargo carried in the truck bed and also offers protection from the weather. However, use of the canopy also generally limits the area in which cargo can be carried. Conventional truck racks are generally not compatible with use of a canopy, though it is known to have a truck rack that mounts around and outside of a canopy. It is not common however to have a rack that mounts over the truck bed inside of a canopy also mounted over the truck bed, thus offering the security and protection of a canopy for cargo loaded onto the rack while still providing full view to the rear of the truck through the truck rear window.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a truck rack with a platform, that is, a raised flooring, over a pickup bed and within a pickup canopy. To accommodate a generally unobstructed view through the pickup rear window, it is a second object that the platform be mounted above the rear window but still within the pickup canopy. These objects are achieved in a frame supporting a platform supported above the cab rear window in normal use but lowered for loading. Thus, the bed of the truck is still available for normal use in hauling materials and relatively large parts and equipment, while smaller parts and equipment may be stored above the truck bed on the supplemental platform over the bed and above the cab window.
It is a third object that the platform be accessible for easy loading. This object is achieved in the platform pivoting on pivot pins from a primary frame first end at a platform first end between (a) a store position with a platform second end latched to a frame second end securing the platform within the channel between the frame side members and (b) a loading position with the platform second end unlatched and lowered from the primary frame. In a preferred embodiment, the rack is supported in a supplemental frame that pivots on the pivot pin on the primary frame forward in the truck bed. When released from a lock position, the rack moves longitudinally, forward and rearward in the truck bed, in the supplemental frame for ease of loading. The platform is supported in the supplemental frame by a wheel extending from each of the platform and the supplemental frame received in a corresponding channel in each of the platform and supplemental frame, respectively, such that the platform is supported by a wheels forward on the platform and rearward on the supplemental frame at all relative positions of the platform in the supplemental frame.